


Burning Rubber

by ismellitblue



Series: Monsters Inc [1]
Category: Doom Patrol, Doom Patrol (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 20:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19280479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ismellitblue/pseuds/ismellitblue
Summary: “I’m Niles Caulder, and I believe I may able to help you,”He calls himself friend, but her mind screams enemy!There’s no reasoning, no logic behind it, just a gut feeling that tells her the man is dangerous.





	Burning Rubber

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Doom Patrol.

When Rita steps onto the set of her latest picture, she feels a sense déjà-vu.Shrugging the feeling off, she goes over her lines,again and again until she has everything down. She basks in the praise she’s receiving-it’s something she’s come to expect, but  for some reason, that day,she laps it up like a starving woman.

It’s not until the wood gives beneath her feet, and water fills her lungs that the foreboding she’s been feeling all day crystallizes into something she can make sense of.The crew scream and scatter when she emerges from the water, the very ladies who’d been singing her praises won’t even look at her.

_I’ve lived through this before_ ,she thinks as flesh melts off her face.The thought runs round and round in her head as she drags herself away , the muscles on her legs trickling down the bone and touching the ground.

***

A man comes to see her while she’s in hospital.

“I’m Niles Caulder, and I believe I may able to help you,”He calls himself friend, but her mind screams _enemy_!There’s no reasoning, no logic behind it, just a gut feeling that tells her the man is dangerous.

“I’m sure you already know, but I’m Rita Farr.Are you sure you can help me?”He nods solemly, and her ear droops until it’s at her elbow.

He wheels himself closer, his hand hovering but not touching her latest deformity“ _Fascinating_ …”

The same screaming echoes she’d heard right before falling into the river come back, and it’s only years of practice that keep Rita’s eyes from showing the terror that’s suddenly overwhelmed her.

***

When he leaves,she doesn’t waste time getting out of her bed.She takes out her most functional clothes and the boots she was wearing when she fell into the river, they fit easily into her pillow case, and she puts  it into an air vent before putting it back in place.

The bottle of whisky she’d stuffed at the bottom of her bag is half full,but it still manages to cover most of the room.To calm her nerves she lights a cigarette –knowing full well that she’s stalling, the nurses could come in at any minute, but she can’t help it.

“You’re being ridiculous Rita, the man offered to help you?Your career is on the line.Get a grip!”She goes to put the cigarette out, but the same overwhelming feeling of dread comes back full force.

She lets it fall, watching the graceful lines of smoke that follow its trail.The fire spreads quickly,catching on the alcohol, and she backs up until she’s by the air vents.Rita doesn’t actually know why she’s chosen that option, sure someone would see her leaving through door or window, but she’s too large for the vents.

She shouldn’t even be considering it, but somehow she just knows it will work.

The fire eats at her hospital gown,  and her skin begins to sag-Rita takes that as her cue- _she screams._

She’d shot a horror picture a few years back, and she’d been praised for her blood curdling screams.The actress in her ,calls on that as she cries for help, the sorrow and loss of the last few days bleeding into her pleas, until the tears running down her face no longer have anything to do with the smoke.

She  hears frantic voices outside, and she lets out one finals scream, letting it fade out as her body begins to sag.Her body literally slithers right though the tiny holes of the air vent,and it’s only the thought of getting caught that stops Rita from cursing at the strange feeling .

***

She doesn’t know why she heads to America of all places,it’s where she’s most likely to be found out, but she can’t shake the feeling that she’s to wait for something there, so she bites the bullet and heads for the states hidden amongst cargo and nearly starving to death.

Rita Farr is a woman accustomed to luxury, and she’s only able to bare the indignities of poverty for exactly one month before she lies her way into an upper class brothel.She wears her hair in a style that conceals half her face, and waits in a fancy room for her first client-nervous beyond belief.

She doesn’t look up as the man comes in, placing the briefcase with the half a million dollars worth of payment by the door.Eighty five percent will go to the madame, and the rest is hers.

“Come my dear,work for your money”She looks up in shock, recognizing the voice, the beady eyed old man doesn’t even blink,clearly the recognition is one sided-Sydney Bloom has always been an idiot.

The old producer moves to sit on the bed, and when he pats his knee in invitation,Rita’s stomach twists.She realizes it’s not just a mental thing when the man’s face pales.He doesn’t have time to scream before Rita’s stretched out skin cuts off his oxygen.

She lays on the corpse for a long time,struggling to pull herself together, and when she finally does,she takes the money and jumps out the window,falling 20 floors and not breaking a single bone.

***

1961 finds Rita living in a vast manor in the middle of nowhere.Somedays she scrubs from floor to ceiling until her hands are raw,other times(more often than she’d like),she just sloshes around like a giant blob.These two activities generally keep her occupied but as the year progresses, she can’t shake the feeling that she’s supposed to be somewhere else.

To shut off her anxiety she ups her daily alcohol intake,cleaning out the cellar in a week and getting started on her scotch, as she digs into the half burnt things she’s come to call food.

“Whatever it is,it’s not worth it,”She repeats the words over and over again,ignoring the dull ache in her heart each time she says them.

In the end, all it takes to break her resolve is a broadcast over the radio.

“…plane crash at the base.The pilot is in critical condition,let us keep him  in our prayers…”There’d been no mention of the pilot’s name, and Rita had missed the part where they named the location of the base,but she instinctively knows where to go.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed this.I'm fooling around with the idea of the team knowing instinctively not to trust Niles.Expect more soon.Kudo/comment.


End file.
